The Cabildo of Lanzarote sealed the official constitution of the first Island Council of Senior Citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa (CIPM) this Wednesday morning, an unprecedented body in the history of both islands, promoted by the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
This forum, officially composed in a constituent meeting held at the Cabildo headquarters, is made up of nearly twenty senior citizens' associations, as well as representatives from the seven town councils and political groups with representation in the Institution. Each and every one of its members took the floor this Wednesday, and even some invited groups located among the public did so, to congratulate themselves on the launch of this novel tool, finally unanimously voting for the formal constitution of the Council. The call for the first ordinary plenary session of this forum, with its respective agenda, is scheduled for the month of September.
Because, as the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, has stressed, the Island Council of Senior Citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa is "a unique figure in the Canary Islands", so "we must be a reference for the development of active and effective policies that improve the lives of our seniors". And therefore it should be a space where agreements are reached that materialize, he added, "because this is not just theory, we want agreements that materialize and because I do not believe in a democracy that is not based on citizen participation," he stated in a speech in which he also suggested multiplying the healthy proposals for physical activity.
The island's leader welcomed the launch of this forum promoted by the Cabildo of Lanzarote and whose regulations were already signed in plenary session last April. "We are facing a historic event," Betancort said about the need "until now unattended to have the senior generation in the design of island public policies that are aimed at them." In addition, the president congratulated the associations and the town councils, "without which this body would not make sense."
"A milestone in the society of Lanzarote and La Graciosa"
Likewise, Oswaldo Betancort congratulated the Councilor of the Senior Citizen Area, Nori Machín, "for putting all her effort and dedication so that we reach a milestone for the society of Lanzarote and La Graciosa." Nori Machín, for her part, in her initial opening speech at this constitution ceremony, stated that she is proud that this participatory space was born "with the consensus of the senior citizens' collective." And she then highlighted: "Today is an important and historic day for the senior citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa because, for the first time, the Cabildo creates a participatory body to ensure their needs and demands. You will be the protagonists and those who mark the path to be followed by the administrations."
The constitution of the Island Council of Senior Citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, as an advisory body, represents a basic advance in the social participation of this group and in its recognition, allowing the value of their experience to be made available to the community.
Unanimously constituted
There have been continuous expressions of satisfaction towards this premiere, counting on the resounding and unanimous vote of all its components. The collaborative discourse has been wielded by the municipal representatives and by the political spokespersons. While the groups, for their part, took the floor to thank in a generic way the formation of the Council, congratulate the Island's Senior Citizen Area and recognize the necessary coordination that must continue with the town councils.
For example, Severiano García, the president of the Tías Senior Citizens Association Asomavo, expressed his desire that "this tool that is put in our hands be used to improve the quality of life and, above all, the leisure of senior citizens. There are leading associations here that keep the torch alive of these groups and their power to worry about some problems and help solve them."
From the Association of the 2nd and 3rd Age La Destila, for its part, Mónica Salvatierra has referred to the change observed lately in the policies developed by the institutions: "Before we saw ourselves alone in our activities in the Classroom, and fundamentally thanks to the Cabildo we have abandoned the situation of uncertainty in which we often were," she commented before adding that they also maintain a regular collaboration with their Town Council.
Note that in Lanzarote and La Graciosa there are currently more than 18,000 senior citizens who represent more than 13% of the total population. This growth implies a "greater need for social and socio-health benefits, in addition to other services and activities."
The Cabildo of Lanzarote, which promotes the participation of our senior citizens in public life and their active incorporation into social life, thanks the associations again for the work done, and encourages the existing groups, and those that may be constituted in the future, to structure the Island Council to turn it into a basic tool in the planning of public policies that affect them.
The groups that make up the first Island Council of Senior Citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa are: Association of Senior Citizens and Volunteers of Tías, Asomavo; Association of the Third Age Volcán de Timanfaya of Yaiza; Association of Senior Citizens El Palmeral of Haría; Association of Senior Citizens Eugenia Armas Martín of Playa Honda, in San Bartolomé; Association of the 2nd and 3rd Age La Destila, of Arrecife; Association of Senior Citizens Cecilia Roldán, of Arrecife; Association of Friends of the Third Age of Altavista (Arrecife); Association of Senior Citizens El Castillejo of Guatiza (Teguise); Association of Senior Citizens Tejida of Costa Teguise (Teguise); Association of Senior Citizens Santa Ana of Tahíche (Teguise); Association of Senior Citizens Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, of the Villa de Teguise; Association of Senior Citizens La Saranda of Tao (Teguise); Association of Senior Citizens Los Paisanos of Muñique (Teguise); Association of Senior Citizens La Esterlicia of Soo (Teguise); and Association of Senior Citizens Las Gracioseras of Caleta de Sebo, of La Graciosa (Teguise).